Because You Live
by SereneCalamity
Summary: He was completely, head over heels in love with her. Clace.


_It was requested quite some time ago by_ trisherondalemorgenstern _to write a Clace oneshot based on Jesse McCartney's song_ Because You Live. _I have only just gotten around to it now, and I just wanted to write a story where they were in the snow and they were all happy and the world was all fluffy and beautiful. So this is kinda plotless, but I hope you enjoy!_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, or song, although I've probably been in love with any music Jesse McCartney has released since I was seven or eight. Hahaha._

 _Because you live and breathe  
_ _Because you make me believe in myself  
_ _When nobody else can help  
_ _Because you live girl  
_ _My world  
_ _Has twice as many stars in the sky_

Jace Herondale knew that he was young, but he couldn't help it.

He was completely and utterly in love with Clarissa Fray.

He loved the way she laughed.

He loved the way she cried.

He loved the way she cared so passionately—about her career, about her family, about her friends.

He loved the way she loved _life_.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Clary sung out as she bounced in front of him, the colourful scarf that was slung around her neck trailing out behind her. Jace rolled his eyes playfully as he followed after her, his body not quite fully awake at this time of the morning given he was on holiday and he had been up until almost two the night before, drinking with Alec Lightwood and Simon Lewis. It was only eight thirty in the morning, and his girlfriend had woken him up by perching on the corner of their bed and staring intently at him until his eyes had opened and he felt as though there were holes being burnt into his head. Clary had grinned and urged him to get out of bed, saying that she wanted to go exploring.

It was two days before Christmas, and Alec and Isabelle Lightwoods parents had given them their house in Aspen to go to during the break. Despite their short comings as parents, the Lightwoods had incredible taste and they loved to flaunt their wealth, which came in handy for their children and their childrens friends.

"This place is so beautiful," Clary breathed as she stepped outside, blinking out at the snow covered forest that surrounded them. Jace knew that this place was beautiful—and he really did think that! He did! It's just he had been coming up here since he was a kid, either with the Lightwoods or with his own parents, and so he was a little desensitized to how gorgeous it was—he guessed he took it for granted. Maybe that made him sound arrogant and spoiled, but that was just a fact of life. But looking at Clary's face, at the way her eyes were glowing and her lips were parted in complete awe, reminded him of how much he had loved this place when he was younger.

Clary looked beautiful, her cheeks rosy as she licked her lips quickly and then took off at a quick walk across the front yard. The house was nestled between a couple of the hills, and there was a lodge with a ski slope that they had gone and spent several hours yesterday just a five minute drive away. There were walk paths clearly marked, but not coloured so obscenely that they detracted from the natural beauty, just wooden markers every couple of metres. Jace knew that they wouldn't get lost, so he had no problem with following after the red head without much thought of their direction.

He would follow her anywhere.

She was bundled up in a pair of jeans—and he knew underneath she would have on a pair of thermal leggings that she borrowed from Isabelle—then a thick pair of boots, a light blue jacket, a horrific knitted scarf in red, green and gold that Simon had given her as a gag gift before they had come down, and a blue beanie on her head that she had stolen from Jace. And then of course, underneath the scarf was the thick strap for the expensive camera that she barely ever left home without.

It was only ten minutes before she started taking photos. And once that camera was in front of her face, everything else started fading away. Jace was okay with that, though, because it meant that he could stare at her without her getting embarrassed or throwing snowballs at his face. Clary preferred to be behind the camera, she wasn't a big fan of attention being completely on her, and that was yet just another thing he loved about her.

Clary looked so happy, taking photos, running further up the path and scrambling onto a fallen tree that was blanketed in snow. She got ice on her pants and when she steadied herself on top of the tree trunk, her feet sunk down a couple of inches, almost completely covered in snow. Jace watched her, moving in closer behind her in case she lost her footing and tipped backwards. She seemed pretty set, though, looking up at the leafless branches that stretched out above her, at the canopy level of the forest. There were hanging icicles, and caked snow in piles along the branches and the off-shooting twigs. It was beautiful, Jace could admit that, but his attention was completely on the red head.

Her face was so lovely and free, smiling up at the snow and the trees as though they were the most beautiful thing on earth. Her clothes were a little mismatched, and the scarf she was wearing was something that most the girls Jace had dated would never be caught dead in. But she didn't care—the clothes were the last things on her mind. She was just so involved with being _here_ and enjoying the snow, and when they were back at the holiday home, it wasn't all about the clothes and her fingernails and the selfies at the expensive ski lodge and restaurants they were going to, it was about their friends.

She was incredible.

Jace wasn't too sure how long they were out in the snow, but it must have been a while, because his mittens were completely soaked through and their lips were glistening red from the cold. They had wandered further up the path—Clary kicking up the clean, white snow in little puffs while she skipped along and Jace following along behind her—when a snowball came flying out of nowhere. Then a second and a third followed, Magnus and Simon screaming as they rain forward and pelted the couple with the pre-made snowballs they had cradled in their arms. Clary let out a shriek of laughter, diving for cover behind a thick trunk of a tree, the first couple already sticking to her clothes and dampening them. Jace laughed as he was hit with a couple more, and picked up some snow, rolling and patting it into a ball and throwing it directly at Magnus' face.

"You bastard!" Magnus shouted, turning his full attention toward Jace, just as Alec and Isabelle joined them—Isabelle wearing an extremely colourful pair of sweatpants and a jacket, while Alec was dressed entirely in black. Isabelle started sprinting forward as soon as she realized what was happening, although she didn't both to even try to form a ball out of snow, she just picked up handfulls and started throwing them.

Snow was flying everywhere, Jace knew that he was soaked right through to the skin and guessed that everyone else probably was as well, except for Alec, who was just staring at all of them and rolling his eyes. Clary had managed to avoid the snow fight for a while, until Simon had seen her standing behind the tree with her camera, and focused all his attentions on her. So she had handed off her camera to Alec, who everyone knew wasn't going to get involved even if they bribed with everlasting blow jobs from Magnus, and joined in.

"This isn't fair! This isn't fair!" Clary squawked, trying to sound adamant as Isabelle joined together with Simon, both of them throwing snow only at her. She would have sounded a whole lot more serious if she could manage to stop laughing. Magnus and Jace got on board with them, all four pelting the petite red head with snow, before Jace lunged forward, catching her around the waist and sending her flying backwards into a pile of fluffy snow. "Oof!" She let out as Jace fell on top of her, careful not to put his full weight on her smaller body. Her hair was splayed out, scarlet against the white, and her cheeks were bright red, a couple of freckles spattered adorably across her nose. She was still laughing, her breath coming out in little puffs, and she wiggled underneath him.

"God, I love you," Jace breathed out. Clary grinned up at him, shifting to reach up to him. Their icy lips were about to meet when suddenly there was something wet and freezing being smushed into his face. Jace let out a cry and scrambled backwards, trying to shake the snow from his face and out of his shirt where it had slid under his collar. Clary was still lying in the snow, giggling and clutching at her side, and behind them, Isabelle was whistling and Magnus was cheering Clary on. "Yeah, yeah, okay," Jace smirked at her as he gathered another fistful of snow as Clary clambered up to her feet to try to run away. "That's my girl."

 _Let me know what you guys think :)_


End file.
